The final opening act was The Autumn Offering, a band that I have reviewed before, both live and on CD. I saw them as the first opening act for, coincidentally enough, Mushroomhead back in 2006. At the time I wrote about how good they were, throwing down with a high level of energy and displaying a skill worthy of keeping an eye on. I then reviewed their latest album, featuring new lead singer Matt McChesney. It was a decent album that suffered from weak vocals. Well, I have to report that it has only gone downhill. I can only hope that it was just a bad night or a bad mix, because The Autumn Offering sounded horrible.
I could tell that some of the individual performances were good, but when you listened to their so-called music it just failed to come together at all. When they left the stage, it was not soon enough. Judging by the reactions around me, I was not the only one to feel this way. Let me finish by saying the best moment came when Waylon came out and provided some lead vocals towards the end of the set.
Finally, the moment we all were waiting for, the arrival of the mighty Mushroomhead. I am still amazed at the lack of attention these guys have gotten over the years, especially with the success of Slipknot. You would think this would be a great opportunity for a label to push a direct competitor to those masked purveyors of mayhem. Of course, I think this way as I prefer Mushroomhead.
This is a band that I have seen a number of times going back to 2004, each and every time I see them, they deliver on the promise of a high energy, highly theatrical show. This time was no different. The lights went down and the band slowly made their way onstage, with Waylon, sporting a bald head and white face with a black streak over his right eye, continuing over his head. He stood there staring out across the crowd, imploring us to cheer, which we did. The rest of the band came out and the show started.
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